In the final daily update of COVID-19 statistics, Orange County shows an increase in hospitalizations – Orange County Register

In Orange County, hospitalizations for COVID-19, reported on Thursday, July 1, increased significantly.

Hospitalization surged from 56 on Wednesday to 70 on Thursday, and the number of patients in the intensive care unit increased from 10 to 13.

Andrew Neumer, a professor of population health and disease prevention at the University of California, Irvine, told City News Service whether the increase was the cause of concern at this point. It’s a little difficult to say, “he said.

“It’s good to pay attention to the numbers,” Neumer said, checking whether it’s a trend or a one-day data blip.

“We also saw a slight increase in Los Angeles County,” he said. “I want to see a moving average for a few days. It looks like a big number and it’s not great, but I’m still not crazy.”

The county will not make another update until next week as authorities will shift weekly rather than daily reports. The county recently stopped reporting data over the weekend and now updates it only once a week.

“I don’t support it,” Neumer said. “Printing daily numbers doesn’t kill them. I think it should still be daily.”

The county reported 54 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, pushing the cumulative total to 256,371.

Orange County leaders announced on Wednesday that the county had achieved its July 4 goal of 70% of the adult population receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine. They called the county vaccination campaign “Operation Independence.”

As of Wednesday (latest statistics available), the county had 1,779,309 fully vaccinated inhabitants. Of these, 1,663,883 received both doses and 244,757 received a single dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, which required two doses. An additional 115,426 people have received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine.

“I want it to be higher than 70%,” Neumer said. “I want to meet 70% of people over the age of 12.

“We never reach 100%, but I want to see 85% of the qualified population,” he said.

“Vaccination has proven to be a key factor in reducing positive test rates in our county over the past few months,” said Clayton, director and chief county health officer at OC Healthcare Agency. Dr. Chau said in a news release Wednesday evening.

“Many people haven’t worn masks or physically separated since the state reopened on June 15,” he said, and county officials said the county’s most affected and disadvantaged. We tracked a “slight increase” in positive test rates in areas of different conditions. ..

“The most interesting thing is the fact that more than 90% of the new positive cases were among people who were not completely vaccinated,” Chau said. “In fact, more than 95% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 were not completely vaccinated. We know the vaccine works. We continue to provide them to our community. , Encourages all unvaccinated people to do so. “

The county’s deputy health officer, Dr. Regina Chincio Kwon, warned residents about newer and more contagious strains, such as the Delta mutant.

“We know that there is a new surge in cases of COVID in other parts of the world, which is often associated with Delta strains that are known to be highly infectious. “Chinsio-Kwong said in a news release. “In recent weeks, the Delta strain has shown an increasing proportion of positive tests in the United States, California, and Orange County. Studies show that the current COVID-19 vaccine is the Delta strain and other subs. It has also been shown to be effective against species. This is another reason to recommend vaccination to those who have not yet been vaccinated. “

The HCA on Thursday recorded another death on January 19, bringing the county-wide COVID-19 deaths to 5,122.